June 26th, 2015.

This is a date which will soon be added to history books and textbooks everywhere.

Just hours ago, the United States Supreme Court, in a very close 5-4 ruling, created a new civil right; The right of marriage. And, in doing so, ended any states ability to ban same-sex marriage, or refuse to recognize same-sex marriage.

This is HUGE! As far as social historical events go, this is up there with the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and ending the Jim Crow laws!

In making this radical (yet long overdue) change, the United States have now joined a group of 21 other countries who have made same-sex marriage legal, nationally. For the sake of how cosmically groundbreaking those countries are, let's go ahead and list them all right here.

• The Netherlands, 2001
• Belgium, 2003
• Canada, 2005
• Spain, 2005
• South Africa, 2006
• Norway, 2009
• Sweden, 2009
• Portugal, 2010
• Argentina, 2010
• Iceland, 2010
• Denmark, 2012
• Brazil, 2013
• England, 2013
• France, 2013
• New Zealand, 2013
• Uruguay, 2013
• Luxembourg, 2014
• Scotland, 2014
• Finland, 2015
• Ireland, 2015
• Mexico, 2015
• The United States of America

You know an odd thing about this list? Almost every country on this list is both economically and socially advanced. That's weird. It's almost as if... Ok, here me out: If your country's citizens keep and open mind, and are accepting of other people who have different ways of life, you just might have a higher level of collaboration, with everyone getting along better and getting more work done. In fact, everyone, no matter what kind of life you live, is better off. Just a thought.

I grew up in the 90's, and I remember hearing about the women from the beginning of the 20th century who fought, rallied, protested, marched, and did everything they could to have their voices heard. Their work paid off; in 1920, women were given the right to vote. Women. 50% of our countries people, held 0% of it's representation before 1920. Then, all of a sudden, everyone gets representation. It was a huge day for our country.

I remember hearing about the African-American's in the 50s and 60s, who fought, rallied, protested, marched, and did everything they could to have their voices heard. Their work paid off; by 1965, Jim Crow laws across the country were falling away, giving blacks access to the same places, opportunities, and infrastructure as everyone else. Many people's grandparents, mine included, played a large part in that social change. This shows what kind of time we live in right now, where people are still slowly being considered equals.

Now, during my lifetime (mid-20s, in case you're wondering), the LGBT+ community has been fighting, rallying, protesting, marching, and doing everything they can to have their voices heard.

Their work paid off.

For this. For today. For June 26th, 2015.

While this is truly an amazing time for the equality of US citizens, there are some things we should remember. Just like how women gaining the right to vote didn't change the fact that today, 95 years later, women still make less money than men for the same jobs. Or, how the ending of the Jim Crow laws doesn't mean that blacks, or any minority, are treated the same as whites in this country. Also true, is that the national legalization of same-sex marriage doesn't mean that there aren't places in our country where it will still be unsafe to be gay. It doesn't mean that a child coming out to their close-minded parents is going to be any easier. It doesn't mean that a recently re-identified transgender person is going to have an easier time getting their gender changed on their driver's license. But it's a step.

The fight for social justice might never end, but when we reach a step like this, it shows me that, at the very least, we are still climbing.

-NH